Both Ulysses S. Grant and Winfield Hancock were respected Union generals during
the Civil War. In 1868, the Democratic party bypassed nominating Hancock for
president in favor of former New York governor Horatio Seymour, whose
controversial placating of the 1863 draft rioters earned him the enmity of
Republicans. During the 1868 and 1872 presidential campaigns the Democrats
warned the American public of possible military dictatorship if an army general
(Grant) were elected president. The contrast between the Democratic rhetoric in
those elections and the Democratic nomination of a military general (Hancock) in
1880 is lampooned in this cartoon by Thomas Nast. Notice that Hancock's tall
stature (right) makes him unable to ride the Democratic horse effectively.